Joe Biden To Sit Down With ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos For First Post-Debate TV Interview
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Updated 12:29, with press conference information: Joe Biden will sit down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos for his first interview since the fallout from his dismal debate performance.
Stephanopoulos will interview Biden on Friday, with the “extended” interview, as ABC News terms it, set to air on Sunday on This Week and Good Morning America on Monday. The first portions of the interview will air on World News Tonight on Friday evening, with more on the weekend editions of GMA.
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Another interview coup for former Bill Clinton aide and longtime ABC anchor Stephanopoulos, news of the sit-down comes as calls have become louder and louder for the 81-year-old POTUS to either step aside from his rematch against Donald Trump or order a dramatic reset of his clearly faltering campaign. Having said that, Stephanopoulos has proven the go-to guy for Biden when the president has hit the political rocks.
Back in the summer of 2021, ABC News had an exclusive interview between Stephanopoulos and Biden as the administration’s tumultuous exit from Afghanistan turned into a tragic and humiliating retreat.
With silence from Biden’s Hollywood ringleader Jeffrey Katzenberg, dozens of deep pocket donors have expressed dismay and even outrage at the president’s rambling and disjointed appearance with Trump on CNN on June 27. Biden has since appeared at rallies and fundraisers and, after a stay at Camp David, returned to the White House on Monday, when he delivered a statement on the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity. He declined to take questions from reporters.
At the White House briefing today, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that will change next week, when Biden does a press conference during the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. The summit with 31 other members of NATO will take place from July 9-11, but Biden will be doing his press conference solo and will take questions from multiple reporters, Jean-Pierre said.
Today, President Biden made a short trip from the White House to the DC Emergency Operations Center HQ for a briefing on some of the extreme weather hitting the nation this 4th of July week. As has been the case with almost all of Biden’s public appearances since the debate debacle, the president took no questions from the media.
Biden will be attending a campaign fundraiser in nearby Virginia this evening. Whether or not the president will be using a Teleprompter with his remarks before contributors is not known right now. The president’s reliance on the Teleprompter in such private events as well as his policy speeches and campaign stops has emerged in recent days as a flashpoint for both critics and fans.
Demands for a reassuring response on Biden’s capacity to run a coherent campaign against much indicted Trump, who has a lead in the polls, have been met in the fallout from last week with conference calls and Zoom meet-ups from top staffers like Jennifer O’Malley Dillon. Offering platitudes and polling estimates, the plethora of calls have come in place of direct communication from Biden himself or his long term inner circle – a situation that has caused even more anxiety, top donors tell us.
Interestingly, despite the pleas from some of Biden’s most loyal supporters, the president’s network interview will not be live. Additionally, even with a scattering of events on the president’s schedule for the Independence Day holiday, there is no other interview or town hall on the calendar for Biden – yet.
At the briefing, Jean-Pierre said that “we want to turn the page on this.” She acknowledged voters’ concerns over Biden’s age, but gave a terse “no” when asked if the president was in the early stages of Alzheimers or any form of dementia. She also suggested that reporters should ask the same question of Donald Trump.
“I have an answer for you. Are you ready for it? It’s a no. And I hope you’re asking the other guy the same exact question,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Most incumbents, for their first debate, it doesn’t go well,” she said, calling Biden’s performance a “bad night” while noting that the president has also acknowledged his debating skills and speaking style are not what they used to be. “With age comes wisdom and experience,” she said.
But reporters peppered Jean-Pierre over just what happened on Thursday evening. It’s a question that Stephanopoulos likely will ask. She said that he had a cold and continues to have one, but said that he was not taking cold medication.
All the networks have standing offers to interview the president. The choice of ABC News follows Biden’s last major sit down interview, with the same network. He spoke with World News Tonight anchor David Muir at the Normandy anniversary celebration last month.
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